


The Wishing Fruit

by HobbitFeels



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Fairy Tale Elements, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Magical Realism, silly little plot bunny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-10
Updated: 2013-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-26 04:51:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/961762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HobbitFeels/pseuds/HobbitFeels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Kili accidentally becomes a hobbit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wishing Fruit

**Author's Note:**

> Kili eats something he shouldn't and develops a _little_ problem. Set at Beorn's.

"What do you mean, 'Kili has been turned into a hobbit?'" Thorin boomed.  
"Well," Fili began, "we were out killing time and we found this fruit. I cautioned him not to eat it, but you know how he is. He said it tasted sweet but then he doubled over. I ran to get help and when Oin and I reached him again, he was a hobbit."  
"You keep saying 'he is a hobbit.' I do not understand!" Thorin said.  
Gandalf shook his head and pushed in on his temples at the king's inability to grasp Fili's words.  
Fili replied. "He has a smooth face, pointier ears. large furry feet, and his clothes have gotten larger everywhere but his middle. Oh, and he's a little bit shorter...but not by much. So you see, I mean He. Is. A. Hobbit."

Thorin looked at Gandalf, who did not seem at all distressed. 

"Have you ever heard of such a thing?" Thorin demanded.  
"It seems your Kili has had himself a taste of what the elves call fennas, or 'gateway fruit.' For lack of a better term, it is a wishing fruit. I've never seen one, although I've heard stories. Leave it to someone as ancient and mysterious as Beorn to have it randomly growing on his property," Gandalf said.  
"Wishing fruit? That is absurd! Why would it turn Kili into a hobbit?" Thorin asked.  
Gandalf was weary of Thorin's willful ignorance of simple facts. "I suppose because he wanted to be one," he said sharply. Glancing at Fili, he said, "Take us to him."

*****

"No, there is nothing to be done for it," Gandalf said after examining Kili.  
"Nothing?" Kili wailed.  
The wizard smiled kindly. "Do not be troubled. The effects are short term. I have no practical experience with this plant, though, so I could not tell you when they will wear off."  
"But I cannot travel like this! I cannot even use my bow! My proportions are all _off_!"  
"We will stay with our host another couple days and see if your _condition_ clears," Thorin said.  
Kili sighed heavily. "Well, if that is to be the case, when is the next meal? I'm starving."  


Gandalf stifled a laugh.

*****

"You know, you make a pretty cute hobbit," Bilbo said quietly.  
Kili had been sitting, moping all alone.  
"Um, thank you," Kili replied.  
"Do you know...how?" Bilbo asked.  
"Something I ate, a weird fruit was what Gandalf said. It is supposed to wear off," Kili said.  
"I was wondering, how does being a hobbit differ from being a dwarf? Does it feel very strange?" Bilbo asked.

Kili looked at Bilbo and smiled. Somehow, it made sense to him that Bilbo would approach this as a way to bridge the cultural gap between himself and the company.

He said, "It does. I'm not used to the ground beneath my feet, for one. These new feet are tough, but I feel the texture of the ground more and it is disconcerting. My balance is all thrown off because my center is higher than it usually is. My eyesight is worse but my hearing is better. Also, I'm hungry _all the time_. How do you stand it on the road being hungry like this?"  
Bilbo shrugged. "I managed to get sort of used to it, I suppose. I do miss my seven meals a day, though."  
"Seven? Durin's beard! No wonder I'm starving!" Kili moaned.  
"Don't worry. By the time you get used it it, you'll be a dwarf again," BIlbo soothed.  
"Here is to hoping," Kili said.

*****

"It has been two days, Gandalf! We cannot stay here forever hoping Kili changes back. Is there nothing you can do?" Thorin said.  
"Nothing will accelerate the progress. It has to work out on its own," Gandalf said.  
"The prince of Erebor cannot be a bloody hobbit!" Thorin shouted.  
"Hey!" Bilbo protested. "Nothing wrong with hobbits!"  
"No, of course not. But the dwarven prince of a dwarven nation...you must understand." Thorin sighed. "I don't know why he wished for such a thing in the first place."  
Bilbo's eyes widened. "Excuse me? Wished?"  
Gandalf smiled. "Not exactly, Bilbo. The fruit Kili ate temporarily transformed him based on his desires, though he was not conscious of the effect. Something about hobbits appealed to him deeply, I suppose. Had you eaten the fruit, you might have become an elf."

Thorin made a choking noise.

*****

Bilbo found Kili sitting in the garden, examining blooms.  
"Do you mind if I join you?" Bilbo asked.  
Kili replied, "If you'd like. I had a sudden compulsion to be among things that grow. These flowers in particular caught my eye."  
"Oh, yes. Gaura. Those are very popular in the Shire. All the best gardens have them," Bilbo said.  
"Of course they do," Kili said wearily.  
"Listen, Kili...Gandalf said something interesting about the fruit that changed you. He said that you kind of wished yourself this way," Bilbo said.  
Kili glared at him.  
"Not 'wished' out loud, but that there was something about hobbits that perhaps moved you?" Bilbo asked.  
Kili was embarrassed. "It is nothing."

Bilbo could see he made Kili uncomfortable and was regretful. 

He said, "I apologize for prying. It is just...I've felt so different from all of you. Just about everyone here has relatives to keep them company and you all know the same songs and the same stories. It took me a long time to feel like I was part of anything and honestly, I pretty much had to throw myself on an orc to do so. I know you won't be a hobbit forever, but if there was something about us that appealed to you, I wanted to know of it. It would have made me feel better as we traveled onward to not feel like no one understood me, you know?"

Bilbo moved to stand but Kili stopped him by putting his hand atop Bilbo's. 

He spoke softly. "I loved your home. Everything about it seemed to call out 'comfort' and I found myself sad to only spend one night there. I loved your food, though the hobbit in me now is appalled that we raided your pantry so rudely. I felt a sadness as we left the rolling green hills of The Shire. I could not explain it, but it was as though I was leaving a long beloved home even though I had only been there a day. And then there was you. Timid and fierce all at once with a sharp mind and an even sharper tongue when you have a need for it. Yet you are so kind. You put up with Fili and I all but throwing you to the trolls with only the lightest scolding afterward. Thorin was rough with you, but you put your life on the line for him. You are both hard and soft and you...fascinate me. I've been more curious about you than anyone else I've ever met."

Bilbo was stunned. He had admired Kili from the beginning, but he had no idea Kili had any interest in Hobbiton or him, either one. Kili gazed at him searchingly. 

With a Tookish boldness, Bilbo leaned in and pressed his lips to Kili's. He felt a hand cradle his face as their lips moved together sweetly, with a hint of a promise. Kili gasped suddenly and when Bilbo opened his eyes, Kili the dwarf was looking back at him. 

"You make a rather beautiful dwarf, too," Bilbo said, leaning back in to kiss Kili again. 

Several paces away, Gandalf looked on with a satisfied smile. He turned and walked away, chuckling inwardly, and hummed a song around the stem of his pipe.


End file.
